1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to ornaments, and more specifically to an ornament in which a plurality of light emitting diodes are disposed about a digital picture display to create special lighting effects to capture a user's attention.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Digital cameras have become the preferred choice for a large number of consumers due in part to the convenience of not being required to purchase and develop photographic film. Most digital cameras employ a charge coupled device, which includes a large number of diodes called pixels that convert photons into electrons. An electrical charge is accumulated by each pixel as it receives light and determines the intensity of the light. Various methods of using red, blue and green filters produce the full color image. The digital camera captures images and stores pictures in non-volatile memory using techniques well known in the field. The digital images can be downloaded to a computer using a serial, parallel, SCSI or universal serial bus port. Removable memory is also common in digital cameras in addition to using floppy disks or writeable CDs.
There have been attempts to develop devices other than computers or printers that are capable of receiving and displaying digital pictures. By way of example, note U.S. Pat. No. 6,975,308 to Bietto that discloses a picture frame for displaying digital images taken by a digital camera. The frame of Bietto may be a wall mounted frame or desk top frame and displays digital pictures when a motion sensor of the frame is activated. A shortcoming of this prior art is that the frame is a conventional type frame and is not adaptable to accentuate the digital images being displayed using specialized lighting effects.
Another example is U.S. Pat. No. 4,754,271 to Edwards that discloses a liquid crystal display for viewing digitally encoded pictures. The display of Edwards is described as approximately one-sixteenth of an inch in thickness and small enough to fit in a shirt pocket. Similar to the shortcomings of Bietto, the display does not accentuate the digital image being displayed. Accordingly, what is needed in the art is a more elaborate device for displaying digital images that captures the user's attention.
Another need exists in the art for an improved digital picture display that is customized to coordinate to a particular time of year or holiday.
Another need exists in the art for an improved digital picture display that is readily adaptable to suspend from a Christmas tree limb as an ornament.
Another need exists in the art for an improved digital picture display that is adaptable to display digital images stored and formatted as either JPEG, bmp, png, or gif files.
Another need exists in the art for an improved digital picture display that can be powered by connecting to a string of lights using a vacated light bulb socket.
It is, therefore, to the effective resolution of the aforementioned problems and shortcomings of the prior art that the present invention is directed.
However, in view of the prior art at the time the present invention was made, it was not obvious to those of ordinary skill in the pertinent art how the identified needs could be fulfilled.